Monthly Archives: March 2011

This Saturday I’ll be speaking at Nullify Now’s New Hampshire event, along with a bunch of very good speakers. Get the details. For those of you in or around Kalamazoo, Michigan, there’s a free seminar on economics for high school students this Saturday. Two Mises Institute scholars, Mark Brandly and Harry Veryser, are running it. Details here.…

I am writing to you in the hopes that you will pass the Oregon Firearms Freedoms Act. The Federal govt. only has the authority contained in the text of the U.S. Constitution. This plain fact is affirmed not only by the text of the document, but also by the quotes of the Founders at the ratifying conventions. The fact that other versions (the “Virginia” Plan) or amendments (proposed by Madison), which would have enlarged those powers, were specifically rejected. The Tenth Amendment caps the powers of Congress, as those powers delegated – and reserves all powers not delegated to the Federal govt., nor forbidden to the states, to the states (or to the people).

The Hill’s observations on the Republican line up reveals inherent weakness in the Republican position going into 2012. It goes from damaged goods (Newt Gingrich) to a “blank slate” (Tim Pawlenty). But time is on their side. One would never guess that the country is actually experiencing a renaissance of creative governance with Bob McDonnell in Virginia, Bobby Jindal in Louisiana, Rick Perry in Texas and even Nikki Haley in South Carolina. Two issues: First, in politics, dinosaurs rule and The Tea Party has been commandeered by the likes of Dick Armey and Newt Gingrich, refried agent provocateurs from the Clinton age (visualize that: before Pokémon, before Kurt Cobain, before Y2K, 9/11 and the 21st century) – it will be nothing but a red neck howl if it continues following that cue and in short order will be “. . . in with the dust and gone with the wind.” The anti-government tenor in Congress today resonates much like the old Gingrich; Gingrich, the sequel, starring himself. At the time it seemed inspired essentially as personal invective against a President who lived below the usual threshold of adulthood. But Gingrich has outdone him. Worth repeating is the Chicago Tribune’s John Kass’s comment on Gingrich: “Is that the Constitution in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?”

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The American Republic will endure until the day Congress discovers that it can bribe the public with the public’s money.” ~ Alexis de Tocqueville

Did you know that you live in a nation that’s approaching it’s death-rattle-centennial? I bet you probably didn’t. Right in front of our very eyes the Republic was sold into the hands of the banking elites. Right underneath our noses our birthright was stolen. You might be asking yourself: “Ryan, what is so important about 1913?

First, one must examine Alexis de Tocqueville’s comment in reference to the death of the Republic. When de Tocqueville came to America, being privy to the politics and social conditions of his homeland of France, he wished to see what made America so special. His findings, after coming to America and examining our social and political lives, were recorded in his most famous writing: Democracy in America. In it, de Tocqueville discovered that Americans tended to be a very free people, a religious people and a people who were drawn to being in groups… or alliances. But his most dire findings were associated with our political system. He knew that America would perish if the politicians began to bribe the people with their own money. This was impossible until 1913.

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State efforts to roll back the federal health care law have drawn increasing attention to the principle of nullification in recent months. And as state legislators realize they have a viable tool to fight unconstitutional federal overreach, they increasingly employ the idea to push back against other expansions of federal power, including TSA full body scanners, acts prohibiting medicinal marijuana, the Real ID Act, EPA regulations and federal gun laws.

James Madison said the states have a right and are duty bound to interpose when the feds overreach, and Thomas Jefferson called it, “the rightful remedy.” But what exactly is nullification? What are its origins and history? Can a states really declare a law unconstitutional, and null and void within its borders?

The People have declared, through the November elections, that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care (PPACA) act reaches beyond the powers which have been delegated to our representatives in the federal government.

28 States, including Pennsylvania, have argued to the court that the act is Unconstitutional.

11 States are currently considering the Tenth Amendment Center’s own Health Care Nullification legislation.

Judge Vinson has ruled that the PPACA is Unconstitutional and void.

The people, the states and the court are in agreement. The PPACA is Unconstitutional.

Yet, the federal government continues implementing the law! And so does Pennsylvania – Why is Governor Corbett continuing to implement an act which he, as Attorney General, affirmed to the court is Unconstitutional? As Michael F. Cannon at the Cato Institute notes, if we fail to protect our rights, it makes it easier for someone else (read, Washington, DC) to violate them.

Sen. Bill Ketron has introduced a resolution in the Tennessee General Assembly that will create a committee to study creating an alternative currency for Tennessee in the even of a collapse of the Federal Reserve. SJR0098 is an important step towards bringing constitutional tender to Tennessee.

When our Founders wrote the Constitution, in Article I, Section 10 they wrote “No State shall … make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts.” The reason for this is that historically fiat currencies, that is currrencies not made of or backed by gold and silver, always collapse. The United States currently uses fiat currency in the form of Federal Reserve Notes that are not backed by gold or silver.

SJR0098 pending before the Tennessee General Assembly recognizes this and seeks to ensure the economic viability of the state in the event of a collapse of the Federal Reserve. The resolution states:

I hadn’t kept up on all the numbers recently, so I took a look at President Obama’s 2011 budget. My shock at the numbers was matched only by my shock that even Kerry could say something that demented.

The fiscal situation America now faces is unutterably appalling. I don’t want to bury you in numbers, so I’ll just mention a few, rounding out to the nearest hundred-billion.

First, the deficit is not just a few percentage points in the budget. Fully a third of all spending is now on borrowed money—that is, $1.3 trillion out of 3.8 trillion. That would be like spending $100,000 a year on a salary of $67,000.

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I mentioned the fake quotation phenomenon not long ago, and this is in that tradition. Some opponents of the Fed, usually those whose opposition derives more from political than economic concerns, like to cite twentieth-century U.S. presidents as alleged opponents of the Fed. The main one is Woodrow Wilson himself, who is portrayed as somehow having…

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The battle between the States and the Federal Government over REAL ID will continue on another two years, as the Federal Government prolongs implementation once more. The controversial law, passed in 2005, took unconstitutional steps to compel the States to conform to their standards in regards to driver’s licenses and identification cards. Introduced by U.S. Representative James Sensenbrenner (R-Wisconsin), it failed to go through and only met success when attached as a rider to the bill, Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act for Defense, the Global War on Terror, and Tsunami Relief, 2005. Rep. Sensenbrenner is also the sponsor of the controversial and unconstitutional USA PATRIOT Act of 2001, which was introduced in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

The Maine Legislature under Democratic control, led the way for America in a resistance that would include over half of the country, by calling for the repeal of the bill. A bill that would not allow Maine to participate in a national identification card system was introduced by former State Representative Scott Lansley (R-Sabattus) and would become law. Both the Resolution and the Bill had overwhelming support from both Democrats and Republicans, who came together in a bipartisan effort to stand up for rights of Mainers.